Samajwadi Party to contest Uttarakhand civic polls on its own

Samajwadi Party state unit president Kuldeep Yadav speaks on civic polls preparations at an event in Haridwar. (RAMESHWAR GAUR/HT PHOTO)

The Samajwadi Party will contest the April civic polls on its own and has formed units in 10 districts, its state president Kuldeep Singh Rawat said here on Thursday.

The move is aimed at reviving the party that once had three legislators in the state assembly bust reduced to blank now.

“We are taking municipal elections as litmus test to parliamentary elections in 2019. We will be contesting on our own in all five constituencies of Pauri, Tehri, Nainital, Almora and Haridwar,” Rawat said.

“All district units have been asked to start making list of dedicated and honest party workers who maximum chances of winning the civic elections.

“I will be making tour of both Garhwal and Kumaon divisions in coming weeks to ensure party cadre gets further strengthened. Already, we have made 11,000 active party members in the state that shows inclination of people towards our ideology,” he said.

He said in coming months, party chief Akhilesh Yadav would also be paying visit to Uttarakhand along with his wife and MP Dimple Yadav, whose ancestral village is in Pauri Garhwal.

Party general secretary Rajendra Parashar said: “The party high command has given us directives to prepare for municipal and then parliamentary elections on our own.

“We won’t be having any alliance as people are perturbed with BJP and previously Congress led governments. Also, regional outfit like Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and Communist parties have also let down people of Uttarakhand,” he said.